


Of Dinosaurs and Men

by cordeliadelayne



Series: Plans [2]
Category: Primeval
Genre: Dinosaurs, F/M, First Date, Getting Together, Trapped in the Past, picnic in the past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-08-11 10:09:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7887049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Abby and Lester get their dinner date; just not the one they were expecting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Dinosaurs and Men

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to Livejournal in 2009.

Lester stood on the outcrop and stared in wonder at the sight below him. A herd of Diplodocuses were moving in the distance and he was certain he had never seen anything so beautiful in his life before. The dinosaur’s long neck was unmistakable, even from this far away and even to his relatively untrained eye. He distractedly pulled at his tie and loosened the top two buttons on his shirt.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Abby asked him, coming to stand next to the civil servant.

“Actually I was just thinking about what we’ll do for dinner,” Lester lied.

Abby smiled. “Still thinking about our date?” she asked, with a twinkle in her eye.

“I wasn’t exactly expecting to end up in the…”

“Jurassic, I think,” Abby supplied.

“…when I came to supervise your latest escapades.”

The young woman shrugged. “Me either. But in this job, it pays to be prepared.” She motioned towards the backpack she’d taken off and dropped at her feet.

“Unless you happen to have an Anomaly Detector in there...” Lester said.

“Better than that,” she pulled out a plastic box, some plastic cutlery and some plates. “I brought dinner.”

Lester looked at Abby as if she’d grown another head. Then he looked pointedly at their surroundings. “We’re goodness knows how many years in the past, separated from the rest of the team, the anomaly has closed and you want us to have dinner?”

“The anomaly opened right over there,” Abby said, pointing to the edge of their shelter, “we’re perfectly safe here because we can see in all directions and make a quick getaway further into those caves if we need to, I have two guns, plus food and drink. Connor had already worked out that this particular anomaly was opening and closing in one hour gaps, which means we have…about 45 minutes to enjoy the view, and the company, before we have to get home.”

Lester stared in some astonishment at her, and then with a well-honed sigh he took off his jacket and sat down on the rug that Abby laid out.

“When I said dinner, I expected it to be in the same century I woke up in.”

Abby just handed him a bottle of water. “Here, drink this. You might even enjoy yourself.”

Lester grumbled but took a sip of the water anyway. They were well-protected from the sun here, but Lester had enough basic survival skills to realise that they were not really safe anywhere. Past or present.

They spent a companionable half hour in silence, sipping at the water and eating the sandwiches and biscuits that Abby had packed. Lester couldn’t help but wonder why she’d had all these provisions with her – he’d asked her to dinner that morning, only for them to be embroiled in yet enough dinosaur related crisis. He’d been seriously beginning to think that he would never get to spend any time alone with Abby.

“I was going to surprise you with a picnic,” Abby told him.

Lester turned away so she wouldn’t see his pleased smile. Very few people were truly able to work out what was on his mind; he was glad Abby was one of them.

“And when you realised we had another anomaly?”

“I dunno,” she shrugged. “I just sort of forgot I had it until we were running from that…thing.”

“Thing, indeed,” Lester noted with a shudder. “I trust Stephen and the others have dealt with it.”

Abby nodded. She was still a little worried, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it from this side of the anomaly. The large, and obviously carnivorous, creature had come barrelling out of the anomaly and one way or the other she and Lester had managed to get trapped on the other side. She vaguely remembered grabbing his arm to stop him getting trampled, and she supposed she must have had no choice but to go through the anomaly, but the details were still a little hazy. At least they were still in one piece.

“That was delicious,” Lester said. He took another sip of his water, but then put the bottle away. He wouldn't trust that Connor’s calculations were correct until he saw the anomaly appear for himself.

“Thank you,” Abby said. She smiled over at him and he smiled back. She turned her face to the sky and laid back, closing her eyes. Lester watched her and then scooted over till he was closer. Abby didn’t say anything but her lips did twitch.

Lester had many things he wanted to say. Like she was beautiful, and could they do this again, and may I kiss you? But once again, life had other plans for him.

The roar came out of nowhere, startling them both. Abby jumped up, and grabbed for her gun in one swift motion. Lester had a moment in which to be impressed, and then he was being dragged to his feet.

“We need to get moving,” she told him, her eyes darting around as she tried to work out where the threat was coming from. There were two diplodocuses hovering nearby, their necks outstretched as if they too were on the alert, but she didn’t think they were the problem.

“Agreed,” Lester said, grabbing his jacket. “Perhaps I could have the other gun?”

Abby handed it over with a quizzical frown; she didn’t know Lester even knew one end of a gun from the other.

“Look!” Abby called. Lester turned to where she was pointing and breathed a sigh of relief at the almost comforting sight of an anomaly shimmery in the dying sunlight.

“Do we make a run for it?” he asked. He unconsciously moved slightly in front of Abby, protecting her as best he could.

Abby smiled to herself as she realised what he was doing. It was sweet. Unnecessary, but sweet. “Just follow me,” she told him, confidently. She scooped up her bag and after a cursory glance to make sure they’d left no traces of themselves behind, she started to plot her way down the outcropping. Lester was actually quite grateful that he didn’t need to take control in this situation. He knew his strengths, and outmanoeuvring a predator in its own territory wasn’t one of them. He wasn’t totally sure it was Abby’s either, but she did have more hands-on experience than he did.

“Shh,” Abby whispered, crouching down. Lester followed her lead.

The two diplodocuses were ambling along, between them and the anomaly. Another predatory roar set the hairs on the back of Lester’s neck on end.

“What are we going to do?” he hissed. He couldn’t understand why no one from the other side had come through yet – what if that wasn’t their original anomaly?

Abby stared straight ahead, her body taut with tension. “Make a run for it.”

“What?”

Abby nodded her head towards the anomaly, which they could make out through the legs of the dinosaurs. Lester had a really bad feeling about this.

“You are not serious?” he asked.

“Do you have a better idea?” Before Lester could answer she went on, “the diplodocuses will shield us from whatever’s out there. We’re small and fast, it’ll be fine.” Abby didn’t add the “I hope” she was thinking. Usually she had someone with her who also knew about animal behaviour that she could bounce theories off of. She wasn’t used to being totally in charge.

“Very well. You’re the expert.”

Abby turned to look back at him, searching his face for sarcasm but finding only a reassuring confidence, before setting her mind to the task at hand. “On three.” Lester nodded. “One, two, three.”

She started to sprint forward, aware that Lester was steps behind her. She darted through the diplodocuses legs and braced herself as a roar sounded, right above her head. She heard Lester swear and couldn’t help but look around to make sure he was okay. Which is right when she tripped over her own feet. Cursing herself she twisted around and hefted herself back to her feet before Lester had a chance to finish extending his arm. The diplodocus grunted and its tail swung out, clobbering the large predator. Abby had no idea what it was but she committed the creature’s characteristics to her memory so she could check with Connor later. She watched as it started to fall to the ground away from them and then she gasped as the other diplodocus hit it with _its_ tail and it started to fall towards where Abby and Lester were standing.

“Come on,” Abby shouted, grabbing Lester and practically dragging him through the anomaly, the reverberations of the creature landing on the ground behind them knocking them off their feet.

They landed on hard grass, both winded but in one piece. Cutter, Stephen and Connor were the first to reach them, shouting for a medic, while the special forces fanned out, guns trained on the still open anomaly.

“Are you okay?” Connor asked.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Abby replied, “best date ever.”

“Date?” Stephen asked, raising an eyebrow. “I think you have a concussion.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Lester replied, standing up and helping Abby to do the same. “She knows exactly what she’s talking about.”

And with that they both walked over to the medic, ignoring the rest of the team that were gawping at them, open mouthed.

“Never mind her,” Connor said, “I think I hit my head. Lester’s smiling.”

“Yeah,” Stephen and Cutter said, equally awe-struck.

“Maybe we need to get checked out by a doctor too?” Stephen suggested.

Cutter turned to smile at him. “Better yet, I spotted a decent looking pub on the way here.” Stephen grinned and Connor nodded enthusiastically.

“Should we invite them along?” Connor asked. His eyes hadn’t left the pair of them, his expression darting from confused to shocked and then back again. As Lester planted a kiss on top of Abby’s head, Connor shuddered from head to toe. “Er, maybe not.”

Stephen and Cutter didn’t stop laughing till they were halfway through their first pint.


End file.
